Govt extends last date for Aadhaar link to March 31

The deadline for mandatory linking of Aadhaar to avail various services such as banking and welfare schemes will be extended till March 31, 2018, the Centre on Wednesday informed the Supreme Court. The statement was made by the Centre before a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, which said it may set up a five-judge Constitution bench next week to hear several pleas seeking an interim stay on the decision of mandatory linking of Aadhaar.

The government had earlier fixed a December 31, deadline linking the 12-digit Aadhaar number with bank accounts, PAN card and other welfare schemes for the poor. Attorney General K K Venugopal vehemently opposed before the bench, which also comprised Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, the plea of senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for those opposing the Aadhaar scheme, that the ongoing Aadhaar enrolment process be stayed.

There cannot be a stay on the Aadhaar scheme which has gone on for years, Venugopal said, adding that the current deadline of December 31 will be extended and a notification to this effect may be issued tomorrow itself. This extension will include 139 services for which the deadline for linking is currently December 31, 2017. The extension is expected to include the mandatory linkage of Aadhaar with bank accounts. So far, individuals face the prospect of being barred from access to their own bank accounts if they do not link them with Aadhaar by December 31.

Venugopal said he was ready and willing to argue the case finally and no interim stay should be granted in such an important matter. The bench also made it clear that only a larger bench would decide on the plea for grant of interim stay on the Aadhaar scheme. The top court said that the constitution bench would also fix the date for the final hearing and disposal of the petitions challenging the biometric identification scheme. It had on October 30 said a constitution bench would commence hearing on the clutch of petitions against Aadhaar scheme from last week of November.

Recently, a ninejudge constitution bench of the apex court had held that Right to Privacy was a Fundamental Right under the Constitution. Several petitioners challenging the validity of Aadhaar had claimed it violated privacy rights. Arguing for the petitioners, senior advocate Shyam Divan said the government's stand is increasingly ambiguous on the plight of existing Aadhaar holders who do not want to link their Aadhaar. He urged the court to address this issue immediately next week. The focus of the hearing next week is likely be on the status of existing Aadhaar holders.